For Immediate Release: January 30, 2023

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is proud to introduce the funeral professionals who have been selected to participate in the 2023 Meet the Mentors program. The transformational program, which has been wholly funded by the Funeral Service Foundation since its inception in 2011, will take place March 12-14, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Emory Conference Center Hotel on the campus of Emory University.

The 2023 NFDA Meet the Mentors participants are:   

• Alexandra "Alex" Adams, Erlewein Mortuary & Crematory, Greenfield, Indiana
• Ben Bohl, Heritage Funeral Homes, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Catherine "Kat" Boyd, Fletcher Funeral Home, Keene, New Hampshire
• Eldrick Brown, Roberts Funeral Home, Birmingham, Alabama
• Elijah Bragg, Danekas Funeral Chapel, Colville, Washington
• Trevor Buchanan, Thomas McAfee Funeral Home, Greenville, South Carolina
• Troy Chaney, Fletcher-Day Funeral Home, Thomaston, Georgia
• Christopher Costello, Jacob Schoen & Son, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Jenna Dicker, Howe-Peterson Funeral Home, Taylor, Michigan
• Daniel Gelhaus, Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home & Crematory, Urbandale, Iowa
• Katie Gochanour, Abels Funeral Home & Crematory, Reinbeck, Iowa
• Mahaly Grant, Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care, Atlanta, Georgia
• Elizabeth Hair, Walker Funeral Home, Spanish Fork, Utah
• John Hill, James Funeral Home, Huntersville, North Carolina
• David Hunter, Iannotti Funeral Home, Inc, Coventry, Rhode Island
• Alaina Kalicinski, Hartsell Funeral Home, Albermarle, North Carolina
• Ashley Kroll, A. H. Peters Funeral Home, Warren, Michigan
• Amanda Lemon, Miller Funeral Home, Fridley, Minnesota
• Enrique Loredo, Caruth-Hale Funeral Home, Hot Springs, Arkansas
• Sarah-Ashley Medling, Arrington Funeral Directors, Jackson, Tennessee
• Kelley Molloy, Phaneuf Funeral Home, Manchester, New Hampshire
• Steven Montejano, Gunderson Funeral Home, Monona, Wisconsin
• Regan Moreland, Radney Funeral Home, Inc., Alexander City, Alabama
• Terrance Reardon, Higgins-Reardon Funeral Home, Youngstown, Ohio
• Andrew Stout, Connell Funeral Home, Inc, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
• Dylan Taylor, Flora Funeral Service, Rocky Mount, Virginia
• Jenny Vigh, Lazarczyk Family Funeral Home, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
• Wendy White, Otts Funeral Home, Sulligent, Alabama
• Steven Wilkes, Kiser Funeral Home, Cheraw, South Carolina
• Allyse Worland, Flanner Buchanan - Memorial Park, Indianapolis, Indiana

About Meet the Mentors

Three highly esteemed funeral professionals have been selected as the 2023 mentors: David Hernández, Jr., founder of Jersey Memorial Group, which is comprised of 13 funeral homes and cemeteries that collectively serve 2,000 families each year in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.; Duane E. Hills, president of Joseph Gawler’s Sons Funeral Home in Washington, DC.; and Annette March-Grier, RN., CFSP, vice president of March Funeral Homes, with locations in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and the visionary behind Roberta’s House Inc., a nonprofit family grief support center. 

Mentees will also hear from special guests Lynda Cheldelin Fell, a best-selling author and founding partner of the International Grief Institute; NFDA Past President R. Bryant Hightower and therapy dog Ruby Hightower of Martin & Hightower Funeral Home in Carrollton, Georgia. 

During Meet the Mentors, Hernandez, Hills and March-Grier will share career advice and lessons they have learned while building rewarding and fulfilling careers in funeral service. Attendees, who are all either under the age of 40 or new to the profession (first licensed within the last five years), will be able to connect with the mentors and their fellow mentees during small group discussions, interactive exercises and meals.

There is no cost to participate in the Meet the Mentors program itself. The Funeral Service Foundation’s generous grant provides exclusive, career-transforming access to three mentors, and covers attendees’ registration fees, two nights’ lodging and select meals (reception and dinner on March 12; breakfast, lunch and dinner on March 13; and breakfast and lunch on March 14). The individuals selected to attend only pay for their transportation to and from Atlanta.

Complete details about the NFDA Meet the Mentors program can be found on the NFDA website, www.nfda.org/mentors. 

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

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Media Contact: Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536, jkoth@nfda.org